maestrevsmaestroWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“maestre” and “maestro” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#14,177
“maestre” frequency rank
#1,296
“maestro” frequency rank
15473
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature maestre maestro
Definition Militar de rango superior. Persona que enseña en una institución educacional.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set maestre and maestro apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
maestre
7 ch
maestro

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. maestre ([maˈest̪ɾe]) and maestro ([maˈest̪ɾo]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - e in “maestre” becomes o in “maestro”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15473, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

maestre is recorded at frequency rank #14,177, classified as anoun, pronounced [maˈest̪ɾe]. maestro is at rank #1,296, tagged as anoun, pronounced [maˈest̪ɾo].

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 15473, this pair ranks #280,004 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of maestre vs maestro

Shared letters: aemrst. Private to "maestre": -. Private to "maestro": o.

"maestre" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCCV  ·  "maestro" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • maestreamestre · maesrte · maesstre · maester · maestrre · maesttre · maetsre · masetre
  • maestroamestro · maesrto · maesstro · maestor · maestrro · maesttro · maetsro · masetro

Frequency comparison

maestre#14,177
maestro#1,296

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "maestre" and "maestro" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([maˈest̪ɾe] versus [maˈest̪ɾo]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "maestre" or "maestro"?
"maestro" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,296 in our Spanish list, against #14,177 for "maestre". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering maestre vs maestro

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “maestre” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list